Apparatus for processing tubular metal workpieces



May 1-2, 1936. R. u. GEIB. JR 2,040,475

APPARATUS FOR PROCESSING TUBULAR METAL WORKPIECES Filed Oct. 9, 1933 2Sheets-Sheet 1 17112871102": EOBEET (I 65/5, JE.

y 1936- R. u. GEIB. R 2,040,475

APPARATUS FOR PROCESSING TUBULAR METAL WORKPIECES Filed Oct. 9, 1933 2Sheets-Sheet 2 5@; g 55 I4 2425 g 219 55 52 15 2/ I6 I E v I 17 1.9 2012 \JO [alley J07:

Patented May 12, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE APPARATUS FORPROCESSING TUBULAR METAL WORKPIECES Robert U. Geib, Jr.,.Edgewoocl, Pa.

Application October 9,

' 4 Claims.

' power actuated metal-working rolls of seamless tendency of most metalworking rolls to drawmetal into the inlet of the metal pass at aconsiderably greater rate of speed than that at which it is expelledfrom the outlet.

A number of rather late developments tend to overcome a great many ofthe dilficulties and limitations referred to, and also increase to agreat degree the speed of production of all types of seamless pipe andtube mills. According to these new principles, the conventionalstationary work-piece guides are superseded by power-actuated groovedrolls rotating on axes substantially at right angles to the pass definedby the metalworking rolls of the mill, and each having a peripheralvelocity in the direction of and, greater than, the longitudinal travelof a work-piece progressing. therethrough.

The effect of these power-actuated guide rolls 40 is to lower the usualresistanceto rotation of the work-piece offered by the stationaryguides, and to greatly assist the longitudinal travel thereof. In itsfinal analysis, the power-actuated guide rolls serve to divertlongitudinally the peripheral flow of the metal of the work-piece whichis occasioned by the -metal-working rolls. In order to accomplish thisresult to any degree of satisfaction, the guide rolls should cause atension, or at least materially reduce the compression, of the metal inthose portions of the pass wherein the most part of the processing isdone.

The conventional disposition of these guide rolls was with their closestcontact surfaces at the gorge, or most constricted portion of the passdefined by the metal working rolls. In this 1933, Serial No. 692,876

position, they permitted too much distortion, or ovality, in the outletend of the pass, with the result that the metal of the work-piece wasdiverted from a tangential to a longitudinal direction in any impropermanner, or degree. Un-

der these conditions the diameter of the'workpiece could not becontrolled. Even more recent developments have taught that'the guiderolls should be disposed with their contact surfaces in the outlet endof the pass, for lo the reason that the metal of the work-piecedisplaced by the guide rolls will be free in this section to move in alongitudinal direction.

When the metal of the work-piece is extremely plastic, due to unusuallygood heating, it will, of 15 course, offer very little resistance todisplacement. Therefore, advantage could be taken of this fact bydisposing the contact surfaces of the guide rolls even farther in theoutlet end of the pass.

' However, this highly desirable condition of metal is not constantlyencountered in successive workpieces. It is also a fact that thiscondition is not constant in a single work-piece. v

If the metal of the work-piece is not unusually plastic, due toinsufficient heating, the guide roll contact surfaces should'still bedisposed inthe outlet end of the pass, but at a point more adjacent thegorge of the metal-working rolls, in order to more effectively limitdistortion which, in this condition, cannot be easily displaced from apoint adjacent the extreme outlet of the pass.

In order to cope with these varying conditions, it has been deemed mostexpedient, and even necessary, to dispose the contactsurfaces of theguide rolls in a predetermined mean position in the outlet end ofthepass.

In the present invention, advantage is taken of the condition of themetal of the work-piece in such manner as to assure the exactly properpositioning of the contact surfaces of the guide A further object is theprovision of a novel U apparatus of theclass described in which themetal of the work-piece is diverted from a tangential path of travel,imposed by helically acting metal-working rolls, into a longitudinaldirection,

, the diversion being exerted to a degree detervarious areas insuccessive, or single, work-pieces,

' tions.

Figure 4 is an elevation taken from the inlet end of the apparatus.

Figure 5 is an elevation on the line V--V of Figure 1.

. Figure 6 is an enlarged plan graphically representing the function ofthe apparatus.

Referring more particularly to the drawings,'

the-numeral 2 designates a housing for part of the apparatus of theinvention. A pair of journals 3 are mounted on the housing 2 forrotatably supporting a pair of suitably driven shafts 4, each of whichhas secured to its end a conventional metal-working roll 5, such as iscommonly used in the manufacture of seamless pipes and tubes.

The housing 2 is apertured in such manner-as to provide machined waysabove and below the metal-working rolls 5, as at 6 and 1, respectively.A horizontally sliding block 8 is disposed in each of the machined ways6 and I, and is suitably apertured to provide a journal for rotatablysupporting one end of a shaft 9. A grooved guide rolllli is secured tothe mid-portion of each of the shafts 9 for rotation therewith.

The sliding blocks 8 are threaded,,as at 8, to accommodate one of a pairof screws l2, which are provided with smooth extremities l2 that arejournaled in the housing2 adjacent each of the apertures of the ways 6and 1.

A motor I4 is mounted adjacent the housing2 and provided with atransmission unit I5, having a driven shaft IS, on which there ismounted a gear i1. The shaft I6 is adapted to drive the lower of theshafts 9 through .a drive shaft 18 and universal joints I9 and 20? Ythat are' associated with the housing 2.

A shaft 2| is mounted above the transmission shaft I6 and carries a gear22 which is in constant engagement with the gear IT. The shaft 2| isadapted to drive the upper of the shafts 9 in exact, synchronism withits counterpart by means of a drive shaft 23 and universal joints 24 and25.

A worm gear 26 is secured to one end of each of the screws l2 androtated by means of a 00- operating worm 21, the latter being mounted onshafts 28 which are supported in bearings 29 The lower of the shafts 28carries a gear 30 whilethe uppermost thereof carries a gear 3| which isin constant mesh therewith.

A motor 32 is mounted adjacent the gears 30 and 3! and is associatedwith a driven selective gear reduction transmission unit 33 which isprovided with a lever 34 for enabling the changing of gears. Theselective gear reduction unit 33 drives ashaft 35 to which there issecured a pinion 33 for rotating the gear 30 on the lower of the shafts28.

A heat-responsive circuit making-and-breaking device, such as aphotoelectric control unit,

generally indicated at 31, is trained on a workpiece which is beingprocessed at a point im mediately'before it is contacted by the metalworking rolls5, and provides means for registering a relatively widetemperature range inherent in the work-piece atthis point. Theheatresponsive circuit making-and-breaking device 31 is operativelyassociated with a motor control unit 38, which is provided with any ofthe well known types of starting and'stopping devices,

limit relays, and reversing media, for automatically controlling themotor 32 in such manner as to enable the pinion 36 to move the contactareas of the grooved-guide rolls l0 into exactly proper longitudinalposition required by the temperature of the work-pieceA, the function ofthe selective gear reduction transmission unit 33 being to further andadjustably modify this disposition in order to compensate for thevarying degrees of plasticity characteristic of different metals at thesame temperature.

If desired, the heat-responsive circuit making and breaking device 31may be disconnected and the motor control box 33 actuated manually by anoperator who is in a position to closely observe the condition of thework-piece.

A piercing plug 39 is mounted on a mandrel bar 40 and disposed with itspoint at the approximate gorge of the metal-working pass.

In operation, the-work-piece A, in the present instance a solid round orbillet which is to be this tendency toward ovality is much greater asthe pierced billet or work-piece progresses through the outlet of themill, and should be limited as much as possible in order to avoiddifiiculties in'the processed work-piece. Therefore, the function of theguide rolls I0 is to limit this injurious distortion and to divertsuccessive increments of metal of the work-piece from circumferentialtravel, accruing from the processing action of the metal-working rolls5, into a longitudinal direction.

As hereinbefore stated, the metal of the workpiece is much more easilydiverted into a longitudinal direction from a positin adjacent theoutletend of the mill, and this condition is particularly true if thework-piece is very highly heated, and therefore unusually plastic. I,

On the other hand, if the work-piece is not in this preferred condition,due to insufficient heating, the contact surfaces of the guide rolls I0should be closer to the gorge defined by the metalworking rolls 5 inorder to limit the distortion at this point, as tearing would resultunder these circumstances if the guide rolls were located at the outletend of the pass.

In order to thoroughly, and automatically, compensate for these varyingconditions inherent in single, or successive, work-pieces, theheatresponsive circuit making-and-breaking device, generally indicatedat 31, actuates the devices of the motor control unit 38 forautomatically starting, stopping, and reversing the operation of themotor 32 which functions through the selective gear reductiontransmission-unit 33 to properly position the guide rolls l0longitudinally with respect to the metal-working rolls 5, the lever 34being provided to compensate this op,- eration in accordance withvarying degrees of plasticity characteristic of different metals at thesame temperature.

Referring to Figure 3 of the drawings, three longitudinal positions ofthe guide rolls III are disclosed relative to the piercing plug 39which, of course, does not vary with respect to the positions of themetal working rolls 5. The line H) indicates a vertical line through theaxis of rotation of, the metal-working rolls II! when they are disposedexactly at the "gorge of the metal-working rolls, while the character Aindicates in a dotted line the contact surfaces of the guide rolls whilein this'position. The line lfl indicates the axis of rotation of theguide rolls I 0 when they are positioned toward the outlet end of thepass, while the solid line A shows the contact surface of the guiderolls at this point. The line H] represents a line through the axis ofrotation of the guide rolls when they are moved even furthertoward theoutlet end of the pass, while the dotted line A indicates the contactareas of the guide rolls in this position.

Due to the operation of the various elements of the invention, the guiderolls ID will limit the ovality of the work-piece A, and divertsuccessive increments thereof from a circumferential to a longitudinaldirection in direct proportion to the plasticity thereof, wherebyexcessive distortion is obviated and accordingly the usual imperfectionsresulting therefrom.

In a copending application, entitled Apparatus for processing metalwork-pieces, filed October 9, 1933 Serial No. 692,875, I have describeda method of regulating the longitudinal diversion of the metal byautomatically varying the rate of rotation of the guide rolls.

In said application I claim the invention broadly in order to includethe methods and devices of the present case, the claims of the latterbeing directed to distinguishable subject-matter.

It is to be understood that my invention is intended to cover anysatisfactory secondary modifier for the final effect of the motor 32 onthe longitudinal disposition of the guide rolls ill, in lieu of theselective gear reduction transmission unit 33; that the three positionsfor the guide rolls ID are nominally illustrated, as any number thereofmay be used; that any suitable heatresponsive circuit maker-and-breakermay be substituted for the suggested photoelectric control unit 31; thatany other satisfactory means may be used for controlling the operationof the motor 32 in lieu of the devices mentioned to be associated withthe motor control unit 38; and

that while I have shown and described one specific embodiment of theremainder of the invention I do not wish to be limited exactly thereto,since various modifications may be made without departing from the scopeof my invention, as defined in the following claims.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for processing tubular work-pieces comprising, incombination, a pair of powere actuated metal-working rolls, at least oneguide, roll having its axis substantially at right angles with respectto the pass line defined by said metal-working rolls, means for rotatingsaid guide roll with its periphery in contact with the Workpiece, andmeans for regulating the longitudinal disposition of said guide rollwith respect to said metal-working rolls in accordance with thetemperature of said work-piece, and secondary regulating means forfurther modifying the longitudinal disposition of said guide roll inaccordance with the resistance to displacement of the metal of thework-piece.

2. Apparatus for processing tubular work-pieces comprising, incombination, a pair of poweractua ted metal-working rolls, at least oneextraneous device for diverting successive increments of metal of thework-piece from a tangential into a longitudinal direction, means forautomatically regulating the longitudinal disposition of said extraneousdevice in such manner as to minimize the distortion of the work-piece,and secondary means for modifying the effect of said regulating means. a

3. Apparatus for manufacturing pipes and tubes comprising a plurality ofpower-actuated metal-working rolls, said metal-working rolls beingconstructed and arranged to move the workpiece longitudinaily and workthe material of which it is-composed, whereby portions of the work-pieceare caused to bulge intermediate the metal-working rolls, at least onepower-actuated guide roll disposed intermediate said metalworking rollsfor limiting the bulging of the material of the work-piece and moving itlongitudinally of its axis, in combination with means for registeringthe temperature of the work-piece, and means operated by saidtemperature-registering means for moving said power-actuated guide rollaxially with respect to the direction of longitudinal movement of thework-piece.

4. Apparatus for manufacturing pipes and tubes comprising a plurality ofpower-actuated metal-working rolls, said metal-working rolls beingconstructed and arranged to move the workpiece longitudinally and workthe material of which it is composed, whereby portions of the work-pieceare caused to bulge intermediate the metal-working rolls, at least onepower-actuated guide roll disposed intermediate said metalseparate meansfor modifying the operation of said last named means.

ROBERT U. GEIB, JR.

